Are Burundians ready to reap the fruits of Unity?
RegionWeek Newsletter Vol IV, Issue #157 | Thursday, February 4, 2021
This is RegionWeek Newsletter for the 4th Season (January-June 2020), a briefing that adds depth to strategic news events and topics. A quick note that shares ideas on what you can do next. Business Leaders, Decision Makers, and Young Professionals trust RegionWeek for concise analysis and Unique perspectives.
Dear Readers,
As Burundian celebrates the day of Unity this Friday, February 5th, 2020, I recalled last year’s briefing I shared with you in our 30th Issue, I asked a question: “ How United are Burundians today?”. I concluded that in a country with a violent past such as Burundi, Unity is built by letting behind us the bitter experience of the past that has continually reinforced distrust and suspicion.
A year later, today, I believe Burundians have a lot to gain by leveraging the progress made in the quest for unity.
Boosting productivity
One achievement that Burundians can be proud of today when it comes to Unity, is the fact that now people from various political and ethnic backgrounds can come together in agricultural cooperatives, even though the concept is not perfect yet there is a huge potential. The government has granted 10 million FBu to each hill since 2019. For the 3200 hills, an amount of 32 billion FBu has already been released.
This will build foundations of trust and community-focused results that set the stage for success. Working together leads to a change of conditions, with the hope that changing those conditions will change people's behavior and more distant outcomes.
The National Development Plan (2018-2027 ) reveals that agriculture contributes 60% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and provides 84% of jobs.
Strengthening the Culture of dialogue
In this momentum of Unity, Burundians should capitalize on dialogue that draws participants from as many parts of the community as possible to exchange information face-to-face, share personal stories and experiences, honestly express perspectives, clarify viewpoints, and develop solutions to community concerns.
The dialogue will constantly curb the rise of political intolerance and attacks on civil and political freedoms. Burundians should not wait for conflicts to erupt in order to organize sessions of dialogue, because Unity is fueled by dialogue and tolerance.
Burundi Coronavirus Updates
The Ministry of Health published updates on the outcomes of the mass screening campaign. From 11/01/2021 to 03/02/2021: Estimated: 31,950 tests were made, 663 people tested positive, 370 recovered while the active cases are 270, Burundi has recorded 2 death so far.
The Ministry of Health announced that the price has been raised from 10,000Fbu to 60,000Fbu that for travelers who wish to have a covid-19 certificate. It was announced also that travelers who will be vaccinated will be quarantined for 7 days when arriving in Burundi like anyone else.
Meanwhile, the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that African countries will receive Covid-19 vaccines this year except for Burundi and Tanzania. The WHO estimates that 336 million AstraZeneca / Oxford and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines will be delivered in the first and second quarters of 2021.
In this phase, the countries will be given doses equal to 3.3% of the population of each country in the project, in line with the goal of the GAVI World Vaccine Forum to protect 3% of the world's population in the first six months of 2021. On the provisional list of countries to be vaccinated, Tanzania and Burundi are not included.
Happy Unity Day!
Fabrice Iranzi,
Founding Editor, RegionWeek.com
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